Augustus steigee coopee



PATENTED JAN. 19, 1904.

' A. S. COOPER.

PILE PROTECTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. s, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

"Mul """iijHii" ZU/Zjes ets? showing the same thing.

UNIT D STATES Patented January 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FILE-PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,920, dated January19, 1904.

Application filed September 8, 1903. Serial No.1'72,250. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS STEIGER COOPER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Oakland, county of Alameda, State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pile-Protectors;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the same.

My'invention relates to the class of devices and apparatus forprotecting and preserving piles from the ravages of marine wormsandbugs, like teredo and limnoria or other marine animals or insects.

My invention is especially designed for protecting the pile againstlimnoria. These operate in the pile between high and low water marks,rendering it possible for any suitable noxious substance of a specificgravity less than water to be floated by the'water during its rise andfall, whether tidal or wave movement, into contact with that portion ofthe pile affected by limnoria. It remains, therefore, only necessary toconfine such substance in such vicinity to the pile as to coat it andenter the holes made by the insects, and thus to destroy those alreadythere and to protect it against the coming of others.

With this in View my invention consists in a means for protecting thepile, comprising a floating substance of any suitable character noxiousto said worms, bugs, or insects and adam of suitable character toconfine said sub-' stance about the pile. The best substance ispetroleum, preferably crude oil, and the dam in its best form is afloating one, all as I shall now describe by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of awharf,

showing the floating body of noxious material and the floating damconfining it about all the piles of the wharf. Fig. 2 is a small frontview Fig. 3 is a small top view of same, the piles being incross-section. Fig. i is a small perspective of a corner of a wharf,showing a stationary dam. Fig.

'leum-oils, &c., will answer the purpose.

5 is a view showing a floating dam about a single pile.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 all the piles A of the wharf B are surrounded by afloating frame C, which serves as a dam to confine the floatingsubstance, (represented by D,) so that said substance remains in contactwith the piles. This substance must have two propertiesto wit, aspecific gravity less than water, so that it will float thereon, and itmust be noxious to the worms, bugs, or insects. Oreosote, oils ofvarious kinds, essential and others, petro- Recent experiments haveproven the efficiency of crude petroleum in this regard, and itscheapness renders it avaibable for this use. It is therefore the bestsubstance for my pu r pose, and it may be used either alone or combinedwith other substances. In Fig. l Ihave indicated by the line a; a; thehigh-water mark- It will readily be seen that as the water rises andfalls either by .tide or wave movement the oil D will be carried up anddown between high and low water marks, and as it is confined by thefloating dam, which rises and falls throughout that portion whichsuffers from limnoria. The dam need'not in all cases surround all thepiles as a whole, for, as shown in Fig. 5, it may be applied about eachsingle pile, it being here shown as an encircling floating box or frameE; nor need the dam in all cases be a floating one. It may be fixedbetween high and low water marks or even extended down below the latterto enable the oil to reach the teredo which attacks the pile below saidmark. It may be of any material, such as canvas applied to the piles ora sheathing of boards F, as shown in Fig. 4,applied to the piles betweenproper heights and adapted to confine the oil about them.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A pile-protector comprising a floating with it, it will coat and keepcoated the piles substance noxious to pile-destroying Worms, 4. Apile-protector comprising a floating bugs and insects, and a dam toconfine said body of petroleum, and a floating dam to confloatingsubstance about the pile. fine it about the pile.

2. A pile-protector comprising a floating In Witness whereof I havehereunto set my 5 substance noxious to pile-destroying Worms hand.

and insects and a floating dam to confine said floating substance aboutthe pile.

3. A pile-protector comprising a floating Witnesses: body of petroleumand a dam to confine it WALTER F. VANE, IQ about the pile. D. B.RICHARDS.

AUGUSTUS STEIGER COOPER.

